Israel accepts Gaza truce proposed by Egypt, Hamas says no

Jerusalem- Israeli security cabinet met today to discuss an Egyptian proposal for Gaza truce and PM Benjamin Netanyahu is said to have accepted the ceasefire, reports said.

According to the Haaretz, the ceasefire proposal will now be put to vote, said a senior Israeli official. However, an affirmative answer has not come yet from the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which seems to have rejected the ceasefire, with one of its officials, calling it a joke according to the CNN. The Hamas officials earlier said that the efforts for the ceasefire were underway, but added that a political agreement must be struck before a ceasefire comes into effect, reported the Israeli media. "A ceasefire without reaching an agreement is rejected. In times of war, you don't cease fire and then negotiate," local media quoted Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhum as saying. Also, in a statement, an armed wing of Hamas - the al-Qassam Brigades – categorically rejected the ceasefire terming it“surrender” by Israel and threatened that the battle will only intensify. No official or unofficial side has approached us about the ceasefire talked about in the media but if the contents of this proposal are true, it is a surrender and we reject it outright," said the Ezzedine al Qassam Brigades reportedly.

Seeking to repeat its act of brokering a truce in November 2012, Egypt proposed an Israel-Gaza ceasefire to take hold with effect from today in order to placate the crisis that had been raging with salvos of rockets being fired from both sides, killing 175 Palestinians. It can be noted that Egypt brokered an Israel-Gaza truce in November 2012 after a similar week-long conflict had killed 150.

The truce proposed by Egypt has been hailed by the US and also, the Arab League which urged all the parties to agree to it. In order to discuss the ceasefire, high-level delegations from both the sides are set to meet in Cairo today. It has been exactly a week since Israel launched Operation Protective Edge last Tuesday to stop rocket firing from Hamas. Israel says that Hamas has fired nearly 1000 rockets in last seven days.